Blueprint for the Future

Submitted by jharbinson on Mon, 2007-02-26 16:41

Dear Fan:

When I inserted myself into the pending sale of the Timberwolves to New Orleans in 1994, my goal for the team was ambitious: to build a team our fans would be proud of on and off the court. My ultimate goal was to win a NBA Championship.

As a fan, I knew the previous five years’ performance was the lowest in the league (105 wins and 305 losses) and the task before us was great. From my business experience, I realized it was important to put together a comprehensive plan for the team’s future.

In pursuit of that plan, we spent the first two years completely overhauling our basketball operations. In those years we replaced all of our players, coaches and staff and even though it was a difficult process, we soon began to see the results of our careful planning. Over the course of the next nine years we enjoyed a number of successes: a record of 410 wins and 296 losses, eight playoff appearances, and a trip to the Western Conference finals. In fact, we recorded one of the best NBA records over that time frame.

It is no secret that since that trip to the Western Conference Finals, we’ve struggled as a team. Being so close to our goal, we began to tinker with our plan, hoping that it would give us that slight edge we needed to become a championship team. In hindsight, I now believe we made a mistake in trying to patch up or provide quick fixes to our team, rather than continue to work within a comprehensive plan for our future.

By recommitting ourselves to this long-range plan, I am confident we will deliver results in the near future. Yes, I know most fans would like to see these results immediately, but my experience has shown me that this isn’t always possible. We will work diligently to build a team that can meet my expectations and yours. Some first steps have already been taken. First, we added Fred Hoiberg and Rob Babcock to our basketball staff to help implement the strategic plan. Secondly, we have secured technology resources for our game preparation and finally, we have doubled our scouting staff to better find emerging talent –both at home and abroad.

While we’re not finished yet, I feel better about our direction today. The building blocks are in place to build something special:

1) Vision: Randy Wittman is supplying firm and fair leadership, and is also a top-notch basketball strategist.

2) Youth: We have added three very exciting and dedicated young players to anchor our future: Randy Foye, Craig Smith and Rashad McCants.

3) Experience: We have a number of key veterans to supply critical experience.

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Rob Babcock
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Fred Hoiberg
Wolves assistant GM Fred Hoiberg joined us for the next segment of our Blueprint features as we look forward to Minnesota's plan for its basketball future.

Jim Stack
Wolves General Manager Jim Stack sat down with us to discuss the future of the franchise as we continue to look into Minnesota's Blueprint for the Future.

I have never wavered in my commitment to you to improve this team. I have been willing to spend what it takes to field a competitive team and will continue to do so. I’ve never felt anything like the energy in our community during our 2003-04 playoff run and nothing drives me more than to feel that electricity in the Target Center again. We all want to experience that winning feeling again.

While I’m having the staff continue to improve and implement our plans, I thought it important to share the basic framework with you so you may better understand our approach in building our team – your team. Please take a moment to read what we have prepared for you.

Thank you for your support of the Minnesota Timberwolves and I look forward to seeing you back in Target Center next season.